The Rose
by DamonsGurl95
Summary: A story about love, family, friendship, and all of the craziness that comes with these things
1. Background Information

**The Rose**

 _A story based on the song "The Rose" by Bette Midler, covered by Lea Michele in Glee_

A/N: All chapters will be based around songs that have been covered by Glee.

Enjoy :-)

 **Background Information**

This story takes place in a slightly different universe to the one created by the incredible J.K. Rowling.

It begins at the first Order meeting of the second war at Grimmauld Place, before Harry is caught for using magic in front of a Muggle.

This story is mostly based around Tonks and Remus as well as the other Marauders.

James and Lily were not killed that fateful night, they were knocked out cold for a few hours. Harry still got the scar from Voldemort but he never lived with his aunt and uncle.

Sirius didn't end up in Azkaban because James and Lily survived to reveal the truth about Pettigrew, who did escape.

Tonks was in the same year as James, Lily, Sirius, Remus and Pettigrew. Her and Lily are best friends.

Remus and Tonks were together from their sixth year at Hogwarts until Voldemort tried to kill the Potter's. They have tried to stay friends since.

Tonks has two children with a Muggle man who she met at a cafe that she frequented every morning before work at the Ministry. He was killed by Bellatrix two years ago. Their children are Mackenzie (Kenzie) 5, and Charlotte (Charlie) 2.

Remus is engaged to a Muggle lady, Alexandra. He manages a Muggle bookstore and she works as a cashier at a department store.

Sirius lives in his parents old home and babysits for Tonks when she's at work 4 days a week. He restores old cars and bikes and sells them.

James and Lily had two more children after Harry who is 15, Amy 12, and Lucas 8. James works at the Ministry in the Department of Magical Transportation, he works in the portkey office managing the distribution and activation of portkeys. Lily is a stay at home mum.

As a last note, although they are all wizards and witches they have tried to fit in with the Muggle world when they are living in it. The biggest notable thing that the Marauders have adapted is having a mobile phone so that they can communicate quicker with each other. The only other thing that everyone in this story has adapted is Muggle past times.

Lots of surprises to come so please enjoy :-)


	2. Memory

**Chapter 1 - Memory**

Nymphadora Tonks looked up at the clock in her room as she finished getting ready for the Order of the Phoenix reunion. She knew they would be late if they didn't leave soon.

Albus Dumbledore had sent a memo to Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody today requesting the presence of himself, Kingsley Shacklebolt and her at her cousin Sirius' home that night.

Tonks had already been there this afternoon to pick up her daughters from Sirius care to come home and get them ready for the night. Sirius had offered for her and the girls to stay the night after the party knowing that the girls would probably have already fallen asleep by the end of the night.

Tonks was pulled from her thoughts of the day when she heard a bang come from her five year olds room. She rushed down the hall and into the room to find both of her girls sitting on the floor and a bookshelf laying in front of them, books strewn all over the floor.

"What happened?" Tonks asked annoyed but also relieved that neither of her children were hurt.

"We were pretending that the floor was lava and I leant on it and it fell."

Tonks shook her head at the five year old, she was just as clumsy as she had been at her daughter's age. Tonks hugged her girls, just glad that they were both okay. She lifted the bookshelf back up and decided she would get a bracket the next day to attach the back of the bookshelf to the wall so that this wouldn't happen again.

Tonks looked at the clock in the room and realised that they were now running late. She sighed and helped her girls finish getting ready.

They were half an hour late by the time they left the house and headed to 12 Grimmauld Place, Tonks was glad that they only lived up the road otherwise they would have had to apparate to get there. She and the girls enjoyed the walk which they took daily to get to the house.

Tonks looked around making sure that the coast was clear before walking up the steps to the front door. She didn't bother to knock, instead grabbing her key from her jeans pocket and opening the door.

"Tonksy, about time you showed up, I missed you," Sirius called as he approached them.

Tonks laughed, "you saw me two hours ago."

"Yeah but still," Sirius hesitated, "um Remus is here, he uh he's got some news."

Tonks nodded and followed her cousin, her girls in tow, to the upstairs sitting room. Tonks noticed that they were the last to arrive as she scanned the room.

"Tonks!" Lily said excitedly as she rushed forward to hug her best friend.

Tonks hugged Lily back. They hadn't seen each other in over three weeks as James had taken his family away for the school holidays.

"How have you been?" Lily asked Tonks.

"I've been good. Mackenzie has been loving helping Sirius with the cars, of course she just sits in the driver's seat and turns the key to check the engines but she loves it. Charlotte has been trying to help me bake lately, she thinks it's funny and always licks the bowl clean when I'm finished. Work has actually been slow, you'd think with You Know Who being returned that there would be more chaos but there hasn't really been any," Tonks explained.

"Weird. Sirius obviously loves having Kenzie help though, he hasn't stopped talking about the girls since we got here," Lily started, her and Tonks laughed, "Charlie is so much like Amy, she did the same things at her age, finding everything funny and licking the bowl clean no matter the situation."

They both laughed at the memories.

"How was Hawaii?" Tonks asked Lily.

"It was gorgeous! We had so much fun. Harry moped for the first few days because he missed his friends but he ended up getting over it. He taught Lucas how to swim and he did archery with Amy. We all took advantage of the spa getting massages, manicures, pedicures, facials etcetera. It was great to be able to do Muggle things for a few weeks without having to think about the Wizarding World," Lily explained.

"It sounds amazing," Tonks responded.

"It was pretty good," James said as he and the kids came over to them.

Tonks smiled and hugged James, "so did you get a facial mr manly man," Tonks teased.

James looked around, clearly making sure that Sirius wasn't around before he spoke, "yes and I have to say I wouldn't mind getting one again."

"James getting a facial, Lily please tell me you got a picture of that," a voice behind them spoke as he approached.

They all turned around and saw Remus Lupin approaching them. James and Lily looked at Tonks to see how she would react.

Tonks simply smiled at him, "it's good to see you Remus. How are you?"

It had been over a year since they had been in the same room together, Remus had moved to America insisting that he needed time to find himself. The last time they had seen each other Tonks had told Remus that she loved him and had never stopped loving him from the moment they had ended their relationship fourteen years ago. Remus had said that he loved her too but they could never work because of his lycanthropy and he had left.

"I've been pretty good actually," Remus started with a smile, "I'm actually getting married."

Harry took this as his queue to get Amy, Lucas, Kenzie and Charlie out of the room. Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Fred and George saw them and decided to follow.

Lily looked nervously at her best friend and James looked around for Sirius, when he spotted him he motioned for Sirius to join them. Sirius saw Tonks frown before quickly changing to a smile and he knew that Remus had just dropped the bombshell and he excused himself from his conversation with Molly Weasley and walked over to his friends.

"Congratulations," Tonks said as she displayed a smile and gave him a quick hug.

Sirius took that moment to call the room to order as he saw Tonks smile falter and her demeanor change.

"Well let me welcome you all here for our first meeting for the new Order of the Phoenix. Welcome back to our original members, it's great to see you all again, and welcome to all of you newbies, make us proud," Sirius and everyone laughed at this before Sirius made a decision, "I would also like to take this time to congratulate my good friend Remus Lupin, who most of you know, on his recent engagement. Alexandra is a lucky girl," at this a young woman approached Remus and he wrapped his arm around her waist.

Everyone in the room clapped and called out their congratulations to the couple.

Tonks took that moment to slip out of the room. Only Lily and Molly noticed her leave, they followed her when they could tell that no one would notice their disappearance.

They walked out into the hall and found Tonks leaning her back against a wall a few feet away. She had her head in her hands.

"Tonks, are you okay?" Lily asked as they approached her.

Tonks took a deep breath and looked up at her friends, her eyes were full of hurt.

"Tonks dear, he isn't worth this. You told him how you felt and he left. We know you were hoping he would come back for you. Now it's time for you to focus all of your attention on the girls and not worry yourself over him," Molly said the last word bitterly. She knew just as well as Lily the love that Tonks has for Remus.

"The last thing that Jack said to me before he went to find Bellatrix was that I had to tell Remus how I felt. The entire time we were together he knew that he wasn't my true love but that I loved him with all of my heart. I knew that I wasn't Jack's true love but that he loved me with all of his heart. We knew this from the moment we met but we were both sick of not getting our happy endings with the ones we wanted and we took the plunge together. We had said that if the time came where we could get our dreams with the ones we want that we would part ways and still be friends. When Kenzie came along we promised that whether we were together or apart we wouldn't miss anything and the same with Charlie. When he died I sent a letter to Jack's true love to tell her that he had died and to tell her how much he had loved her, of course without giving away our world. She sent me a letter in return saying that she hoped that I got my true love before it was too late because she regretted not having her time with Jack. Now my true love has found someone else and I don't know what I'm supposed to do," Tonks said, her voice breaking at points.

Molly and Lily didn't know what to say at this revelation.

They heard laughter coming from the room across the hall and decided to go and investigate to relieve the tension filled air.

In said room were the children.

Fred and George were allowed to use magic at home now so they were taking advantage of it to bring joy to their family both blood and non blood related.

Tonks, Lily and Molly stood in the doorway as they watched Fred levitate a 'sleeping' George on his bed towards the roof, they smiled genuine smiles as they watched. The kids were all laughing as George 'woke up' and hit his head on the roof and shrieked from 'shock'. Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione usually didn't laugh at the twins antics but they allowed themselves to this time knowing that the younger kids were enjoying it.

The three women decided to leave the kids and get back to the party.

Remus spotted them re-enter and decided he should probably talk to Tonks about what had happened since the last time they were together.

Tonks saw Remus walking towards her and she quickly walked over to Kingsley and Mad-Eye, "start engaging me in deep conversation please, I can't talk to him right now."

Kingsley and Mad-Eye noticed Remus and pretended to be talking about important things with Tonks not wanting Remus to have another chance to break her heart again. Mad-Eye was Tonks mentor and he saw her as a daughter and protected her as such. Kingsley was like a brother to Tonks and he protected her like an older brother looks after his little sister. Together the three were a mismatched family.

Remus noticed that they were deep in some sort of conversation so he walked away leaving them to it and deciding he would talk to Tonks later.

By 11:45pm everyone had either left or crashed somewhere in the house.

Remus never got to talk to Tonks because she had disappeared at 10:15pm and not been seen since. He and Alexandra said goodbye to Sirius, Lily and James who were the last ones left in the room and then left. The Weasley's had all gone to the bedrooms that Sirius had offered them earlier that day and everyone else had left.

Tonks was in the largest room on the fourth floor of the house, there were only three rooms up there, Tonks', Sirius' and Buckbeak's. She was sleeping on one side of the bed with her girls sleeping on her other side. The only difference was that she wasn't asleep and her daughters were.

The clock chimed midnight and Tonks climbed out of bed, careful not to stir her babies and walked to the window seat. She sat and looked out onto the street. She watched as Remus and his fiance walked away from the house. Everything was quiet, the only sound was the gentle snoring of Mackenzie and Charlotte. Tonks watched as the lights of the street lamps flickered.

Tonks thought back to that fateful night that Remus broke her heart for the first time. _It was a week after Voldemort had attacked the Potter's and Remus had invited her to dinner after work saying that he wants to talk to her. Tonks had been looking forward to it and gotten all dressed up. She was ready early for the first time since their very first date and she had sat on her couch for over an hour in anticipation for her night out with her amazing boyfriend._

 _Remus had arrived right on time, the only difference from their previous dates was that he hadn't bought her flowers or chocolates. Tonks had found this strange but she hadn't questioned it, she was just glad that he wanted to spend time with her._

 _They had gone to the restaurant and only ordered a main meal, Remus had said that he wanted to talk elsewhere after they had enjoyed a meal. Tonks hadn't questioned this either, thinking that he wanted to ask her something important that they had talked about a few times._

 _After their meal they had gone for a walk around the park near Tonks apartment. Tonks had thought 'this is it, this is the moment Remus is going to ask me to marry him'. Remus had other plans though and had instead talked about how he cared for her but that it was too dangerous for them to be together. He had told her that as a werewolf her wouldn't be able to get a decent job to provide for her, he had said that he already could barely afford to look after himself. He had told her how dangerous he was because he was a werewolf and how people would treat her differently if they knew. He told her that she would be shunned and probably be kicked out of her auror training, she was only a month away from being fully qualified and even then she could lose her job if people knew she was with him. He had told her that he would never be able to give her a family like she had always wanted because he was terrified that he could pass on his disease to potential children._

 _Tonks had just stood there in shock. She had cried and shouted that she didn't care more times than she could count. It didn't change a thing._

 _Remus had done the right thing by taking her home and then told her that he hoped they could still be friends but anything more than that was off of the table._

Tonks sighed, what had changed? Sure it had been fourteen years but only last year he fed her the exact same lines and now he's engaged to some Muggle?! What had happened between the last time that they talked and today?

Just as Tonks was about to use her mobile phone to call him it began to vibrate rapidly, indicating a call. Tonks was glad she had remembered to put it on silent with the girls sleeping in her room.

Tonks quickly grabbed her phone off of the bedside table worried that the noise of the vibration against the table would wake the girls.

"Hello?" Tonks whispered into the device.


	3. Need You Now

**Chapter 2 - Need You Now**

"Hello?" Tonks whispered into the device.

"Hi, did I wake you? I was wondering if we could talk, we didn't really get a chance earlier," Remus voice came through the phone.

Tonks looked out to the street and thought for a moment, this was it she could clear the air and get all of the answers she needed.

"You didn't wake me, what did you want to talk about?" Tonks hesitated.

"I want to apologise for the way that you found out about my engagement, I should have told you sooner."

Tonks didn't know what to say, of course that was what this was about. For a moment she had let herself believe that maybe he wanted to talk about them and that he had realised when he saw her tonight that he was making a mistake marrying that girl.

"Uh yeah, um thanks."

"Dora, are you okay?"

"Remus you gave up the right to call me that when you left. I'm not okay, I thought that you were going to propose to me but you left instead. Now the first time I see you again and you're engaged to another woman. Honestly I don't know how to feel right now, I'm hurt but I'm also happy for you, you obviously found what you were looking for and that wasn't me."

"I'm so sorry Dor I mean Tonks, I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. Maybe we could meet up tomorrow? I want to explain but I'd rather do it in person."

Tonks frowned and thought for a moment, if she met up with him would it only hurt or would it make her feel better?

"Okay, did you want to come over around 10 and we can talk here?"

"Sure, I'll see you then."

Tonks hung up and looked at the ground wondering if she was making the right decision.

Tonks looked over at the clock and saw that it was already 1:30am. She sighed wondering if she was even going to get any sleep at this rate. Her mind was a mess, she was thinking about the possibilities of what could happen tomorrow well later in the day with Remus. She was thinking about how she could get through this without dragging her daughters through the mud with her. She was worried about how it would affect them. She was mostly worried that things would actually go the way that she wanted and Remus would confess his love for her and leave his fiance. It would leave her happy to an extent but it would leave another woman heartbroken and Tonks wasn't willing to be the other woman, the one to break up a loving couple. Tonks sighed and looked over at her sleeping girls and knew that she would wake them if she tried to get back into her bed. She got up off of the window seat and grabbed a blanket out of the wardrobe and laid down on the window seat covering herself with the blanket.

By 4am Tonks had given up on trying to sleep and instead found herself looking through photo albums from before she met her late husband. Photos that dated back to her first year at Hogwarts, obviously Sirius kept these from mum, she thought. The first picture she saw was of her and Lily laughing. The next was Sirius and James wrestling, why did we take this picture? Tonks thought laughing softly. As she looked through each page of photos she came across nearly every second photo being of her and Remus. Tonks heart began to ache as tears filled her eyes. She spent the next few hours looking through the various photo albums that she found in her room, crying and laughing softly at the memories.

At 7am she heard movement in the bed and looked up as she saw Kenzie sit up looking around the room for her mum. Their eyes met and the five year old smiled, climbing out of the bed and walking over to her mum. Tonks embraced her daughter.

"What are you looking at?" Kenzie asked.

Tonks smiled, "photos from my years at Hogwarts."

Kenzie looked at the photos on the page, "who's that?"

Tonks looked at the photo that her daughter was pointing at, her heart leapt, it was a picture of Remus holding her in his arms from their fifth year.

"That's uh, Remus. Mummy's friend who is getting married," Tonks cleared the lump in her throat and smiled her best smile at her five year old.

Kenzie frowned as though she was trying to remember and then she smiled, remembering the man that her mother was talking about.

Tonks smiled, "why don't you go see if Sirius is awake?"

Kenzie grinned cheekily and ran out of the room and down the hall to her cousin's bedroom.

Tonks waited for the obligatory scream from her cousin before she got off of the window seat laughing. She turned to the bed to check on Charlie who was started to whimper, her way of letting her mum know that she was waking up. Tonks pulled her baby into her arms and kissed her forehead softly.

"Let's go see what your sister did to poor Siri," Tonks said to her two year old.

Tonks picked her little girl up and walked towards her cousin's room. Sirius was sitting on the floor glaring at Kenzie who was sat comfortably on his bed. Tonks laughed.

"Don't laugh, it's not funny," Sirius said annoyed.

Tonks smirked, "so how did you end up on the floor?"

Sirius glared at Kenzie again before responding, "she flipped the mattress."

Tonks looked at her daughter who was grinning, "how?"

"I didn't flip it I just lifted it, he was on the other side so he fell off," Kenzie explained proudly.

Sirius was not impressed but Tonks found it very entertaining.

Sirius ordered Kreacher to make them all breakfast so that Molly could sleep in, the house elf was reluctant but did as he was told anyway.

The kids were all hanging out in the living room off of the dining room playing games and talking so Tonks told her cousin about her late night talk with Remus.

"What are you going to say to him when he gets here?" Sirius asked worriedly.

Tonks shrugged, "I don't know, I need answers, I need the truth. So I guess whatever it takes to get the things that I need."

Kreacher dropped a full plate in front of the pair and took a tray of food into the living room.

Tonks and Sirius dug into the food, Tonks doing everything that she could to prevent Sirius from questioning her further on what she was going to do when Remus came.

After breakfast Tonks went upstairs to get ready. Sirius stayed in the dining room, he pulled a folded up picture out of his pocket, he had slept in his clothes from the previous night having been too drunk to change. Carefully Sirius unfolded the picture and smiled sadly at the happy smiling people looking back at him. It was the last picture that they had taken as a group before Tonks and Remus broke up, back when they were all happy.

It was 10 on the dot when Remus arrived, Sirius let him in as Tonks was finishing filling Molly and Lily in on the nights events after everyone had left or gone to bed.

The two men walked into the dining room and Tonks suggested to Remus that they go to talk away from the house, not wanting anyone to listen into their conversation. The two left the house and walked towards an alley that they could apparate from.

Without saying a word Tonks put her hand around Remus arm and he apparated them to a place that they had not been to in years, a sanctuary that was entirely their own.

As they sat down in the meadow they both remembered the happy moments that they had shared there. Tonks couldn't help but miss Remus and miss their precious time together. Remus was feeling the same way but he quickly pushed those thoughts out of his head.


	4. Somewhere Only We Know

A/N: Hi all, sorry for taking so long to get you this chapter, uni was very stressful this semester and I lost someone very close to me so I haven't had much time to focus on this particular story as well as my other multi-chapter fic. I've now finished with uni for the year so I hope to be posting more frequently. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, I'm sorry for making you wait and hope that you think it is worth the wait, if not please don't give up on me or this story, I promise that it will get better.

Thank you all for your patience.

Enjoy :-)

 **Chapter 3 - Somewhere Only We Know**

"I miss coming to this place," Tonks said softly.

Remus nodded, "me too."

"So what did you want to talk about?" Tonks asked hesitantly.

"Us. Seeing you last night made me realise how much I've missed you and us. I was an idiot to leave you, all of those excuses that I made clearly I've gone back on those things. I just need you to know that I don't nor will I ever love Alexandra as much as I do love you," Remus said, surprising Tonks.

"Remus you're getting married, you can't be saying these things, we can't act on how we feel," Tonks said almost sadly, she didn't like saying those things but it was true, she wasn't going to be the other woman.

"I know," Remus said sadly, "but I can't help how I feel. It would be unfair to all of us if I marry Alexandra and my heart doesn't belong to her."

Tonks couldn't believe it, after years of hoping that he would be willing to give their relationship another go it was finally happening. Not in the way that Tonks had expected of course but still, her dream was actually coming true.

"Remus are you only doing this because we're in our place and because last night we were finally able to see each other after so long?" It was Tonks turn to be hesitant and nervous about pursuing anything with Remus.

"I'm telling you these things because they are true. Leaving you was the worst mistake of my life, I know that because you got your wish of being a Mum that it wasn't the worst mistake for you Dora but for me it was. I am beyond sorry for hurting you and if you are willing to give us a chance I will dive in with you and tell Alexandra that the wedding is off," Remus said, almost pleadingly.

Tonks was amazed that Remus was genuinely serious about this. She wasn't sure if it was just nostalgia talking or if he was willing to give up his fiance for her and her girls.

"If you're being honest and serious with me then yes of course I want to give us another go," Tonks said, bringing a grin to Remus face, "I have one condition though, you can't get my girls attached to you and then run off again. They've already lost one Dad they don't need to lose another male role model. That's another thing, you're going to be a role model to them whether you want to or not and that means no pity parties, you have to be all in or nothing."

Remus nodded, "I can agree to that. I promise you that I will not leave again, I'm going all in for you and the girls."

Tonks smiled, "okay then. Well first things first you have to break off your engagement."

Remus sighed, "this won't be easy, but I want to be with you so I'll go and do it now. There's no point leading her on and hurting her unnecessarily."

Tonks nodded her approval.

The two stood and Remus pulled Tonks in for a long passionate kiss that expressed his undying complete love for her. Tonks kissed him back with as much passion and love. When they pulled apart their foreheads stayed touching.

"I love you Dora and I'm not going to repeat old actions or excuses," Remus said softly.

Tonks smiled, "I love you too Remus more than you know."

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter, just wanted to get to the dramatic love story that we all love.

Dedicated to my Grandma who always supported me


	5. I Won't Give Up

**Chapter 4 - I Won't Give Up**

A/N: Sorry it's taken so long to get you this chapter. Uni has been crazy this semester and I have been struggling with inspiration for this story. I have plenty of ideas for one-shots so I'm trying to turn them into ideas for this story. I apologise profusely for taking so long to get this story going it's harder than I had hoped, I really love the idea and I promise that I won't give up on it if you don't :-) Thank you for your patience :-)

It had been a few days since their declarations of love and they had yet to tell anyone. Remus had decided that he had to do the right thing and tell Alexandra before they told their friends and family.

Tonks had been patient knowing that Remus didn't want to hurt his fiance but she didn't appreciate that he had gone away with her back to America to tell her that it was over. He had told her that it was because he didn't want to leave her in London where she didn't know anyone.

Whatever the reason Tonks was extremely uncomfortable about the whole thing, he was going on a trip with the woman who still thought that they were engaged.

Kingsley was watching Tonks, as he had been since she had come into work that morning looking miserable. He was worried that something had sent her back into her old ways. After Remus had left her she had been a complete wreck and now here she was acting very much like someone had ripped her heart out, again.

"Tonks can I have a word?" Kingsley asked as he walked past her desk and towards his office.

Tonks looked at him confused but followed her boss and friend to his office where Mad-Eye happened to be waiting as well. Tonks frowned wondering what was going on.

"You look terrible," Mad-Eye said as he laid his eyes on his protegē.

"Thanks," Tonks responded sarcastically, "what's up Kings?"

Kingsley shook his head at her use of his pet name.

"Are you ok? I hate to say it but Alastor is right, you don't look great Tonks," Kingsley admitted worriedly.

Tonks looked uncertain as she responded, "I'm fine, really I'm fine."

"No you're not," Mad-Eye said bluntly.

Tonks frowned at him but didn't respond.

"Tonks, come on, you can tell us anything. Is it about the girls? About a guy? What is it? What's going on with you?" Kingsley asked compassionately.

Tonks still refused to speak, out of fear that she would tell her friends about Remus only to have him return from America more in love with Alexandra than he is with her.

Mad-Eye was getting annoyed with Tonks now, he was just worried about her and wished that she could see that.

Tonks sighed, if she couldn't even confide in her friends who would be there for her if things went sour again.

"Remus and I met up the other day and talked. He told me that he missed me and loves me. He said that he wouldn't go back to old habits and excuses, that he would be there for me and the girls," Tonks started.

Mad-Eye and Kingsley looked at one another in surprise, that wasn't even on their list of possible scenarios of things that could have upset Tonks.

"So where is he? Why wasn't he at Grimmauld last night?" Mad-Eye grumbled.

"He took Alexandra back to America to break off their engagement. He didn't want to do it here knowing that she wouldn't have any support," Tonks explained.

"Always the gentleman," Mad-Eye mumbled.

Mad-Eye was making it really obvious that he was still not happy with Remus and his previous actions towards Tonks.

"You're worried that he won't break it off?" Kingsley questioned softly.

Tonks just nodded, "I just don't want the girls to get attached to him and then he leaves again. Yes I'm worried that he won't break off the engagement, he's going to be alone with her. Remus is a gentleman Mad-Eye and that's what scares me."

The rest of the day was spent in Kingsley office working on paperwork. Tonks was grateful for the distraction. It certainly worked for her, so much so that when she got home to Grimmauld Place she was smiling and happy. She wasn't worried about Remus and his trip.

"Mummy!" Kenzie and Charlie squealed.

Tonks grinned as she bent down to hug her daughters.

"How was your day?" Kenzie asked sweetly.

Tonks smiled, she knew when her daughters were up to something.

"It was long, I just wanted to come home to my baby girls," Tonks answered, "how was your day?"

"Good!" Charlie giggled.

Tonks smiled.

"Uncle Sirius said we could have ice cream before dinner," Kenzie grinned.

Tonks sighed, of course her idiot cousin allowed her children a chance to not eat their dinner. She had the 'no sweets before dinner' rule in place because the girls never ate their dinner if they had sweet stuff beforehand.

"Of course he did," Tonks responded, she tried not to sound sarcastic but she knew that she wasn't very successful.

"Don't be mad with him Mummy, we begged," Kenzie defended.

Tonks laughed and picked Charlie up into her arms, Kenzie held her free hand as the three of them headed down to the kitchen. Where of course Sirius was trying to get rid of the evidence. He was washing dishes. Tonks knew that he was desperate for her not to be mad at him.

"Hey cuz," Tonks said, a smile in her voice.

Sirius jumped slightly as he turned around to face her.

"Hey, umm so I gave the girls dinner early, they were hungry you know," Sirius tried in vain to convince Tonks.

"Sirius do you really think that MY daughters would lie to me? I know that you gave them ice cream," Tonks informed her cousin.

"Okay yes I gave them ice cream but they asked and honestly I forgot about your rule. Miss Kenzie decided to remind me after they had eaten it. So really it's not my fault, the girls remembered the rule I didn't it's their fault," Sirius tried to defend himself.

Tonks shook her head, of course her cousin would blame her young daughters.

"Sirius I was going to let it slide but really, did you have to blame my little girls? My innocent babies who can't tell a lie," Tonks questioned.

"Yeah I know, it was a long shot," Sirius admitted.

Tonks just shook her head good-naturedly.

That night Tonks went to bed feeling confident that things would work out. She wouldn't be giving up on Remus anytime soon. Sirius had just shown her how badly she wanted her girls to have a father figure in their lives. Hopefully Remus would be the one.


	6. As If We Never Said Goodbye

**Chapter 5 - As If We Never Said Goodbye**

Remus returned from his trip two days later and Tonks was relieved to see the happiness in his eyes when he walked into the basement kitchen and saw her. Without hesitating she was out of her seat and hugging him tightly, Remus returning the hug gratefully. They pulled apart to share a quick loving kiss before turning back to look at the other residents of Grimmauld Place.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you," Remus said to Tonks after they took their seats at the table.

"I've missed you a lot too," Tonks admitted.

"Hey what about us? You missed us too right?" Sirius asked indicating himself and the two girls.

Remus chuckled, "yeah I missed the girls too."

Sirius just glared at his friend.

"Kenz I brought you something from America," Remus said much to the little girl's excitement, "I brought you something too Charlie," he added at the sad look on the two year old's face.

Tonks smiled, "you didn't have to buy them anything Remus."

"I know, I wanted to," Remus said simply.

Tonks just smiled, maybe she really was getting the family that she had dreamed about.

Sirius continued to glare at his friend as his two favourite girls stood beside him waiting for their presents.

Tonks stood up from her seat to move further down the table where Sirius had retreated.

"I'm sure he brought you something too," Tonks told him.

"Eh, that doesn't bother me," Sirius admitted.

"Then why're you sitting all alone?" Tonks asked as she watched Remus with her daughters.

"Just thinking. Now you have Remus and I'm on my own again. You only just moved in to save on costs and now you have Remus and you'll get your own place cause you won't want to have me around cause you'll want to be your own family without me," Sirius sighed.

Tonks eyes softened as she looked at her cousin, "Sirius we aren't leaving, ever. I love this place. Remus and I may get a place of our own eventually but you're stuck with us for a long time. I'm not leaving you I promise."

Sirius smiled, "good cause I don't want you to leave. I love looking after the girls. Charlie started to talk about her toys like they have feelings today. Kenz spent the day telling me about the various parts of cars like I had no idea what she was talking about."

Tonks laughed, "Siri I would never take my girls away from you. They love you and there's plenty of room in their hearts for Remus too. Besides wouldn't you rather be the fun uncle than the rule enforcer?"

"What you're going to turn Remus into their bossy Dad?" Sirius teased.

Tonks rolled her eyes, "they need someone who was strict but loving like their Dad and trust me Remus is perfect for that role. He has a good time but also knows to be strict when necessary. Genius you is more the fun uncle, you never put the girls on timeout even when they should be."

"I don't want them to hate me," Sirius said quickly.

Tonks laughed, "again proving my point cuz. You're a great uncle but a terrible surrogate father."

Sirius shrugged, "as long as I get to be the cool uncle that babysits while you work I'll be happy with that."

Tonks smiled and hugged him, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Mummy, mummy, mummy," Kenzie squealed as she ran over to them.

"Wook," Charlie squeaked as she reached them too.

Tonks smiled as she pulled her youngest daughter into her lap and held Kenzie against her side.

Kenzie held up a bunch of keyrings from all over America and Charlie held up a big stuffed teddy bear.

Tonks hugged her girls tightly, "they are great presents, did you thank Remus?"

Both girls shared a look and then jumping from their mother's arms they ran to where Remus was still sitting and started yelling thank you and hugging him over and over. Tonks and Sirius laughed and walked back to sit with them.

"Thank you Remus!" Kenzie shrieked happily as she hugged him tightly.

"Tank ooo oony!" Charlie giggled as she tried to hug him too.

Remus smiled and hugged them both, "you are most welcome girls."

"I had to tell them your alias, Charlie doesn't know how to speak properly yet and she couldn't say Remus. I hope you don't mind," Tonks said softly.

Remus turned his smile to her, "I actually think it's quite cute."

Charlie walked over to Tonks who pulled her toddler onto her lap and kissed her head.

"Mummy can we go to the park?" Kenzie asked as she settled herself onto Remus lap.

Tonks looked from her boyfriend to her cousin who both shrugged, "okay but Siri has to be Padfoot."

Sirius glared at his cousin, "why?"

"That's the deal," Tonks smirked.

Sirius continued to glare.

"Please Uncle Sirius!" Kenzie begged.

"Pwease!" Charlie begged.

Sirius sighed.

"Come on Padfoot, do it for those adorable faces," Remus said conspiratorially.

Sirius glared at him as well, "fine! Let's go to the park."

Kenzie and Charlie both squealed in delight.

A/N: This chapter was just a fun moment that I had in mind, I hope you liked it :-)


	7. Paradise

**Chapter 6 - Paradise**

A/N: This chapter is titled after the song of the same name by Coldplay and is an homage to the ABC program 'Revenge' as it was the song used for the Australian promos leading to the shows release here. Revenge is a theme to the next chapters (NOT the TV show just the idea of revenge).

Kingsley was working at the Ministry when he was called to Rufus Scrimgeour's office.

"Sir, how can I help?" Kingsley asked as he sat across from his boss.

"It seems that we are dealing with a breakout from Azkaban," Scrimgeour stated.

Kingsley nodded, "I was aware sir. That's what you have had us working on. The recapture of the prisoners was listed as of the highest priority."

"Yes, I am aware of my orders Shacklebolt. I have new information. Information that is for your eyes and ears only. I mean it Shacklebolt the information that I'm about to reveal to you is for no one else to know," Scrimgeour said sternly.

Kingsley was all business now, "yes sir. You have my word that no other soul will know of this information." 'Except for Albus Dumbledore' Kingsley added in his head.

Scrimgeour studied him quietly for a moment before speaking again, "don't ask any questions until I finish and most importantly do NOT ask me how I have this information."

Kingsley nodded, "of course sir."

Scrimgeour again regarded him before speaking again, "alright. I have information that Bellatrix Lestrange, one of the escaped convicts, is seeking revenge on her family. Specifically anyone in her family who is not pure-blood or she considers to be a traitor to pure-blood's. I assume that you can guess where I'm going with this. Nymphadora, her daughters, and her parents are in danger. I do not want her to know of this danger. It would tip off Lestrange and cause her to act sooner. We need to have a plan in place to capture her at the right point. We will protect them from a distance. I know that the two of you are close so I want you on lead for this, I'm also going to call in Alastor Moody. I know that he will have an insight into how we can protect Nymphadora, after all he trained you both. I am making this case priority 2 with priority 1 being the recapture of all of the convicts. Do what you can and what you must to protect the Tonks family."

Kingsley nodded as he took in every word that his boss spoke, "I will do my absolute best sir. What do I tell people who I require to help?"

"I will be briefing Alastor myself. I will also need to ved anyone you choose to be a part of this taskforce," Scrimgeour said.

"I have a few ideas sir however only one would be an Auror," Kingsley said hesitantly.

"Alright, who?" Scrimgeour asked simply.

"Arthur Weasley, he's a good friend of Tonks' and could be an asset. Claudia Lou is Tonks closest female friend in the Ministry. Alastor, myself and Tonks partner will round out the rest of the team," Kingsley stated.

"Partner?" Scrimgeour questioned.

"The man whom she is dating and in love with," Kingsley supplied.

"I need a name Shacklebolt," Scrimgeour's voice rose slightly.

"Sir I will not reveal anything to him however I will let him know that he needs to be with her daughters at all times when Tonks isn't with them. He adores the girls and does not need to know of the threat, he will do a better job protecting them than anyone else," Kingsley informed.

Scrimgeour looked annoyed but nodded his agreement, "fine. If he wants more information Shacklebolt then you send him straight to me."

"I will sir," Kingsley agreed even though he knew he was lying through his teeth.

Even after working with Scrimgeour for years the man could still not tell when Kingsley was lying.

"If that's all sir, I'd like to get a start," Kingsley requested.

"Of course. Keep me updated Shacklebolt and I'll speak with Mr Weasley and Miss Lou after my briefing with Alastor. All I ask is that you send them my way before you make your arrangements," Scrimgeour said.

Kingsley nodded and headed towards Claudia's desk, "Scrimgeour wants a word with you after he finishes speaking with Moody."

"I'll head right there when I see him leave," Claudia said as they watched the man in question walk into their boss' office.

Kingsley nodded and continued on his way to his own office where he sent his patronus with a message to Arthur requesting a meeting in his own office.

Albus had recently shown the Order how to hide their patronuses from view of unwanted eyes so that Tonks, Arthur, Alastor, and himself could communicate about Order business while at work. The enchantment also prevented anyone from hearing what the patronus said other than the person whom the message was intended for.

It didn't take long for Kingsley to get an affirmative response and it didn't take long after that for Arthur to enter Kingsley's office.

"Kingsley," Arthur spoke as way of 'hello'.

"Arthur," Kingsley responded.

Arthur sat across from Kingsley as Kingsley pressed a button under his desk which put the office into secure mode. It was a Muggle invention that Arthur had helped Kingsley install for his office. No one in the Ministry could know that it was there, it wasn't possible to detect.

"What's going on?" Arthur questioned.

"Bellatrix is after Tonks' family. I'm going to head to see Albus shortly to brief him. Scrimgeour is going to brief you. I don't want Tonks or Padfoot to know until it's absolutely necessary or at least until I can figure out how to protect them," Kingsley briefly explained.

"Good thing they're staying at Grimmauld," Arthur said then realised, "Andromeda and Ted."

"Yeah, I'm not worried about Padfoot and the girls they'll be safe at Grimmauld. Andromeda and Ted on the other hand are why I'm going straight to Albus after this conversation. We need a plan to keep them safe. I'd say the same for Tonks but we both know how that'll work out if we attach a protection detail to her," Kingsley said.

Arthur chuckled, "I certainly wouldn't want to be there when someone informs her that she needs a protective detail."

Kingsley chuckled in response before speaking seriously, "that's why having Alastor working with us could definitely help. If there is one person in this world whom Tonks will listen to it's Alastor."

Arthur nodded, before he could say anything more however they both noticed Claudia leave Scrimgeour's office and Kingsley's intercom request Arthur's presence in Scrimgeour's office.

Kingsley motioned for Arthur to leave the room after he disabled the secure mode to his office.

Arthur walked towards Scrimgeour's office while Kingsley headed for the lifts and the exit.

Kingsley took a fireplace to his own home before taking his own fireplace to Hogwarts, a direct link to Albus' office.

"Sorry for the intrusion Albus but I have information that could be useful," Kingsley said after he had looked around the office to ensure they were alone.

Albus motioned for Kingsley to take a seat on the other side of his desk.

"What have you learned?" Albus asked.

Kingsley then explained to Albus everything that Scrimgeour had told him about Bellatrix and her intentions for Tonks, Sirius, Andromeda, Ted, and the girls. Even though only Tonks, her parents, and her daughters had been mentioned by Scrimgeour.

"I agree this is an issue," Albus sighed, "we need a way to protect Andromeda and Ted without giving away that we know what Bellatrix is planning. On that topic we need to get more information about what it is that Bellatrix is planning."

Kingsley nodded, "Scrimgeour is briefing Arthur, Alastor, and Tonks friend Claudia. I'll send Claudia to stay with Andromeda and Ted. Claudia and Tonks have been friends since their days here at Hogwarts, they went through Auror training together. Claudia has fallen on hard times more than once in her life and always ends up staying with Andromeda and Ted during those times, she's like a second daughter to them. This way they won't be aware of anything being wrong and Claudia will be able to protect them."

Albus smiled, "I'll organise Order members to keep an eye on Bellatrix, I have a few ideas of where she could be hiding. In the meantime we ensure that Sirius and the girls do not leave Grimmauld Place. Nymphadora will be a different story. I expect yourself and Alastor to be with her at all times when she is not at Grimmauld Place."

Kingsley nodded, "we won't leave her side. Scrimgeour will ensure that one or both of us are with her at all times. We'll have protective charms around Andromeda and Ted's house in case Claudia is needed at the Ministry although I doubt that Scrimgeour will call her in unnecessarily."

"That's good to hear. I will call an emergency meeting for this evening at Grimmauld Place," Albus said.

"Albus there's one more thing," Kingsley hesitated.

Albus waited for Kingsley to speak.

"Scrimgeour, he doesn't want Tonks to know about Bellatrix coming after them," Kingsley sighed.

"Well we'll ensure that Nymphadora stays silent about it at the Ministry. I've seen her in action, she is a great actress," Albus smiled.

Kingsley chuckled, "her Metamorphmagus skills certainly help her with that."

"I'll call the meeting, you ensure Andromeda and Ted's safety in the meantime. Be at Grimmauld Place as soon as you can," Albus said.

Kingsley nodded, "yes sir."

The two shook hands before Kingsley took the floo back to his own home.

Kingsley then returned to the Ministry and informed Claudia of his plan for her to stay with Andromeda and Ted.

Claudia grinned and agreed without hesitation, after she lost her parents Andromeda and Ted were the closest she had.

With this part of his plan on track Kingsley went to find Arthur and let him know that there was to be an Order meeting that evening.

Now the hardest part, telling Tonks that her crazed aunt wanted her and her loved ones dead. Kingsley had no doubt that Remus would be added to that list when Bellatrix learned of his relationship with Tonks.


End file.
